College solves climate problems with Unico System

Assured about the Unico System's super-quiet air delivery the college administrators installed 11 Unico System five-ton air handlers in conjunction with York condensing units.

Like many established colleges and universities Monroe College in New York City's Bronx borough has an ongoing need to renovate and upgrade older and architecturally unique buildings.

In the summer of 1996,college administrators were faced with a problem; they desperately needed air conditioning added to their administrative offices,but did not wish to ruin the aesthetics of the structure by dropping ceilings to install conventional A/C units.

King Hall,a turn-of-the-century brick building consisting of 15,000 square feet spread over three floors,serves as the administrative and managerial nerve center of Monroe College.

This grand edifice has at various times been used to house a roller skating rink and the college 's multi-purpose building.King Hall is indeed beautiful,but the high temperatures of New York's often brutal summers render it a virtual oven during warmer months.

Obviously it was time to air condition King Hall,but how to do so without radically changing its inherent beauty?.

John Hochreiner of Tesco Distributors an HVAC wholesaler knew he had a product that could solve the problem.He proposed installing the Unico System,manufactured by Unico of St.

Louis MO.Unico System is a high velocity,mini-duct HVAC system specifically designed for applications with strict space constraints.It utilizes compact,modular air handlers a 7" main trunk line and 3 1/2 "outer diameter flexible supply tubing, eliminating the need for traditional "boxy "metal ducts.

Unico System outlets consist of 5" outer diameter and 2"inner diameter circular plates that are available in paintable plastic or stainable wood so that they can be matched to blend in with any decor.

Monroe College facility officers were intrigued by the system 's space conservation, but were worried about the noise they felt would be inherent in a high-velocity system.

Hochreiner pointed out that the Unico System 's supply tub- ing includes sound absorbing materials in its insulation, making the system virtually silent.

Assured about the Unico System's super-quiet air delivery the college administrators hired Airdyne a Bronx-based contractor to install 11 Unico System five-ton air handlers in conjunction with York condensing units.

The systems were also sistered to King Hall's existing basement boiler to provide additional heating.Because of its flexibility the Unico System was easily adapted to the boiler (which is the size of a small garage), thereby avoiding costly removal and remediation charges.

Says Hochreiner "A lot of times contractors look at these old buildings and throw up their hands.They give up and say that they can't do it".

"Not with Unico System".

"The Unico System's ease of operation and mini- ducts make it perfect for these types of installations particularly since we didn't want to compromise the building's architectural integrity".

"Unico System made sense for a number of reasons " he continued.

"First,we were able to use the building 's existing boiler in conjunction with the System to provide better heating during the colder seasons".

"Second we were able to air condition the building without having to drop all of the ceilings to accommodate conventional duct systems.

Finally because this is an office environment the quiet operation of the sys- tem made it a must".

Though it has long been used in residential applications particularly in older homes of historical and architectural importance the Unico System has been enjoying increasing usage in commercial applications.

Many college and institutional installations of the Unico System have been in chilled water applications.

Due to the age and design aspects of many campus structures the product has been installed in a number of schools across the country including the University of Southern California in Los Angeles the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis and the United States Military Academy at West Point.The system has even been used for spot cooling of industrial plants and factories.

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